Quotes on Responsibility

A democratic republic needs patriotic citizens who are fulfilling their responsibilities as well as claiming their rights. . . . One does not have to approve of all of the uses of military power nor all of the uses of tax revenues to see that taxpayers and young men of military age cannot resist compulsion on the basis of disagreements with some of the policies of the government that seeks to compel them. A government could not survive if the enforceable responsibilities of its citizens were divisible according to their individual preferences. We cannot be expected to welcome military service or to relish the payment of taxes, but we should recognize these as essential responsibilities of citizenship, even where we disagree with some of the actions of the government we support. — Elder Dallin Oaks, Church News, July 9, 1994

Our task is not insurmountable. We are on the Lord’s errand; we are entitled to His help.

During the Master’s ministry, He called fishermen at Galilee to leave their nets and follow Him, declaring, “I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19). May we join the ranks of the fishers of men and women, that we might provide whatever help we can.